What a difference and administration makes. After former Gov. Bill Ritter’s non-stop “New Energy Economy” – the centerpiece of his administration – Gov. John Hickenlooper has adopted a more modest tone.

And then there was the controversial Clean-Air Clean Jobs Act, which promotes shutting down old coal-fire plants and replacing them with natural gas.

“The Ritter administration was transformative in promoting renewables, shifting from coal to natural gas and moving toward a more balanced energy portfolio,” TJ Deora, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, said in an interview.

“But there is no appetite for energy legislation and funds are tight,” Deora said.Read more…

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A pumped-up Ken Lund, head of the state’s economic development office, said Tuesday after the news conference introducing Arrow Electronics as Colorado’s newest Fortune 500 company that he expects more announcements in coming weeks.

Does that mean the state is going to bag PrimeStar Solar and the 400 jobs that come with its solar-panel manufacturing plant?

Lund wasn’t saying.

But it’s clear that we’re in a battle with New York for the plant, and according to a reliable source, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fighting like the sun-god Apollo slinging economic incentives at PrimeStar to lock down the plant for the Empire State.

Colorado economic development officials and General Electric have managed to keep the curtain closed tight on the cha-cha-cha underway to win the coveted PrimeStar Solar manufacturing plant and the 400 or so high-value jobs that would come with it.

Landing the plant would provide an important counterpoint to the sweeping, yet light-on-benchmarks “Blueprint Colorado” ecodevo plan release in July by the state. This is an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance” we need to win.
Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a meeting with Denver Post reporters and editors on July 20 that New York and Florida have aggressive incentive packages in front of a GE site selection committee and Colorado’s proposal, while not as rich, could bust a competitive move or two.

No word on when the decision will be made – but it’s got to be close.
GE, which owns PrimeStar Solar, certainly is familiar with Colorado’s balance sheet. Working with the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Lab, the company made a technological breakthrough at PrimeStar’s Arvada test plant that emboldened it enough to announce in April that it wants to build a commercial-scale solar panel manufacturing plant.
Hick said he chatted with GE’s top government affairs guy about the plant and their mutual interest in the high-speed game of squash during the recent Western Governors’ Association meeting. Let’s hope that executive – and the selection committee – also have a hankering for Railyard Ale, one of Hick’s signature malts when he ran the Wynkoop Brewing Co., and available only in Colorado.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.